Betting on Julia (A Melville Sisters Novel) (Entangled Covet) (8 page)

Julia peered around. “So, where are the guys?”

“Actually, we only have one.”

“Oh. What happened? I thought they were all coming.”

“Well, Daniel got called away at the last minute. A problem with…some friends of his.”

She knew that was her friend’s way of saying pack business. That accounted for Daniel. What about the others. “And…?”

“And Debora has walked out on her husband,” Marcy answered. “And about time.”

Julia couldn’t argue with that. Debs had married an asshole who had been sucking the life out of her for years. She was glad her sister had gotten up the courage to leave him, but perhaps she’d wait a little while before expressing those sentiments.

Debs gave a brief grin—and Julia was happy to see the old Debs was still under there. “And in a show of solidarity, Marcy dumped her latest.”

“And about time as well,” Julia put in. Marcy’s taste in men was as bad as her taste in clothes.

That accounted for all the absences, but Lissa had said they had one other man. “So, who is the other man?” she asked.

“Me,” a voice said behind her. She turned and saw a tall, black-haired man standing in the doorway to the lounge. He had golden eyes, like Lissa’s, and Julia felt a smile spreading across her lips.

She’d gone out with Jason a couple of times, but he’d been too caught up in what had happened to her. She wanted a relationship that helped her forget, not one that made her remember that horrible night.

He strolled across, casting a brief glance at Sebastian as he passed. Jason was ex-military and now owned his own—extremely successful—private-security company. Halting in front of her, he leaned down and gave her a swift kiss on the lips. “How have you been?”

“As good as can be expected. When did you get back?”

“Yesterday,” he said.

“You look good,” she said.

And he did. He must have been somewhere sunny because his skin was tanned to a golden brown. In fact, he looked stunning.

“So, are you going to introduce me?” Jason said. Bastian had been standing quietly watching the interaction, and now he stepped forward and held out his hand.

“Sebastian Crane,” he said.

Jason took the proffered hand and shook it briefly. He was usually a scary judge of character, but shaking hands with Sebastian, he seemed puzzled more than anything, a slight frown forming between his eyes.

“I’m Julia’s new next-door neighbor,” Sebastian supplied. He sounded cool, but a tiny muscle ticked in his jaw. “And she’s kindly introducing me around.”

“We’re just friends,” Julia put in, and Jason turned back and grinned.

“Really?”

“Okay,” Lissa said. “That’s the introductions. Let’s have some food.”

“And some drink,” Debs added.

“There’s lots of both.”

Julia glanced at her friend. “I hope you got the caterers in.”

Lissa was not known for her culinary expertise. “Actually, it’s a buffet and was delivered by the Italian restaurant around the corner.”

“The Michelin-starred Italian restaurant?”

She nodded and Julia sighed. At least the food would be good.

The sitting room was beautiful, with big bay windows that looked out over the communal gardens. Lunch had been set out on a long table at one end, and the smell wafted across, garlic and herbs, warm bread. Champagne bottles stood in a big ice bucket. Jason crossed the room and opened one proficiently, while Lissa handed everyone a glass.

Jason went around the room and filled everybody’s glasses with champagne, then went to stand beside Lissa. He raised his own drink.

“Growing up, Lissa and I weren’t close. I think it’s fair to say, I didn’t like her very much”—he grinned—“and she hated me. But we came together again later and for that I’m truly thankful. She’s given me something I never had, and for the first time in my life I feel as though I’m part of a family. And it’s a pretty good feeling. Now Lissa is adding to that family. I’m going to be an uncle—twice. So raise your glasses, to Lissa and the twins.”

Aw. Julia blinked back a tear as she gulped down the cold champagne. Beside her, Bastian reached out and squeezed her shoulder and then gave her a brief smile of support. He really was a sweet man. It felt good to have him here with her family, almost normal.

Debs and Marcy were unaware of what Daniel was. Of what she was for that matter. At some point, she’d have to share the truth with her sisters, but once she did that, they’d never treat her the same again. So she’d put it off a little longer and just celebrate Lissa’s happiness.

She helped herself to a plate of food and wandered around, chatting, keeping the conversation light, and maintaining a close eye on Sebastian in case he needed assistance. He was talking with Debs and Marcy right now and his body language was relaxed. They were being nice to him, not grilling him too badly. If she was expecting them to scare him off for her, she was going to be disappointed.

And
Thing
was quiet, not a flicker. Maybe she needed to test it one stage further. Give Bastian a kiss, somewhere neither of them could get carried away—like at lunch here, where there was no chance her sisters would leave them alone for more than five minutes. She added it to her to-do list. Get Bastian alone and kiss him senseless, purely in the name of research. A flame uncurled in her belly at the thought.

God, he was beautiful. All long and lean, and he had a great ass. She could maybe have a little feel while she was doing the experiment. Maybe slip her hands down the back of his jeans…

“Just friends, huh?”

She almost jumped as Jason came up beside her. He waved a bottle at her, and she nodded.

“Yes. I felt sorry for him as he didn’t know anyone.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“Sweetheart, you were eating him up with your eyes. Women don’t usually stare at their friends as if they want to drag them off and devour them.”

“Was not.”

He grinned. “Was.”

“Okay, well, maybe friends with benefits.”

“Fuck buddies.”

“I could put it better but basically…maybe. We haven’t….” She shrugged. “Neither of us is looking for a relationship right now. So why not?”

“Hmm. So what do you know about him?” Jason asked.

“Well, he’s not dangerous, and he’s not a killer. The state of my life right now, those are both pluses.” She peered at him closely. “He’s not, is he? Dangerous or a killer, I mean?”

Jason shrugged. “I don’t know. I could get nothing off him at all.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Maybe. It means he’s either a nice, ordinary guy, or he’s hiding something. Thing is—he doesn’t look nice and ordinary.”

They both turned to study him. No, he didn’t look nice or ordinary. He looked…hot.

“Would you like me to run a background check on him?” Jason asked.

“No, I wouldn’t. He’s a friend. You don’t check out your friends.”

He shrugged. “You know, I’d hoped we might see each other again. I know you were finding things difficult, and I gave you some space. But I guess not.”

“I can’t, Jason.” She rested a hand on his arm. “I like you, and if what happened hadn’t happened, I think we could have made a go of it. But now…”

“Now, you want to forget, and I make you remember.”

He was so perceptive—it was one of the things that had drawn her to him.

“But you know,” he continued, “what happened isn’t going to go away. You can’t ignore it.”

“Watch me. Maybe not all the time, but most of it.”

“I think you’re wrong, but it’s your life. So we’re just friends?”

“Yeah.”

He gave her an exaggerated leer. “Fuck buddies?”

She giggled. “I don’t think so.”

Sebastian glanced across as though he’d heard her laugh. He raised an eyebrow, spoke briefly to Debs and Marcy, and headed over.

“I’m going to try my luck with the other Melville girls,” Jason said. “Seems like there are two available.”

“Good luck. But go easy on Debs.”

“I will.”

“Lissa’s brother seems to like you,” Bastian said.

“Yeah. I like him as well. He’s a good guy.”

“But there’s nothing between you?”

“No. Nothing.”

“Good.”

If they were just friends, why should Bastian care? Though she had to admit that she liked that he did.

And there was still nothing from
Thing.
Maybe time for that test. Julia’s mouth went dry at the thought. Yeah, maybe it was time she dragged him into a dark corner and offered to do bad, bad things to him…

Chapter Eight

Julia peeked up at Bastian from the corner of her eye and caught his gaze. He was watching her in return, and his eyes darkened. He leaned in close. “I have an almost overwhelming urge to kiss you.”

“You should definitely give in to it.”

Everyone else was in a little group around the dessert table, admiring the offerings. Julia slid her hand into Bastian’s and tugged him toward the door. They slipped out and into the hallway, and she glanced around before yanking him into Daniel’s study and slamming the door behind them.

“I reckon we have five minutes before they come searching for us,” she said.

“Then let’s not waste them.”

He turned her so she was facing him, then picked her up and perched her on the edge of the big desk. “Now I don’t have to bend down so far.”

Five minutes.

Resting one hand on his shoulder, she slipped her fingers beneath his sweater to stroke his skin. He stepped closer, and she opened her legs so he could move into the V formed by her thighs. The heat of his body burned through their clothes. Prickles of sensation ran across her skin, concentrating on her breasts, tightening her nipples, dropping lower so heat pooled in her belly.

And he hadn’t even started the kiss yet.

Thing
was still sleeping, too. Hurray!

With one hand, he raised her chin. His eyes were bright, startling green behind the fringe of black lashes. Then his mouth was on hers and all rational thought fled. Her lips parted and his tongue pushed inside, filling her. Her hand slipped down to lay flat against his chest and beneath it, the rapid thud of his heart echoed her own.

Her legs wrapped around his waist, and she pushed against him, her core nudging against his erection.

Their tongues mated, touching, tasting, stroking. Needing more, she rubbed her breasts against his rock-hard chest, until her nipples ached for his touch.

His hips nudged her most sensitive part, the need building inside her. All he’d have to do was stroke her there, and she would fall apart. At that moment, his hand touched her thigh, sliding up beneath her skirt. So close…

And he stopped.

She bit back a scream of frustration as he tried to step back, trapped by her legs around his waist.

“Our five minutes are up,” he murmured.

Slowly, the fog cleared from her mind if not her body—
that
was still desperately screaming for release. But at least she managed to release the death grip on his waist, and he had a second to pick her up and put her on the floor, smooth her dress over her hips, before the door opened.

Lissa stood in the opening, though the others were behind her, peering over her shoulders. She grinned. “We missed you.”

Julia pursed her lips. “I thought you might.”

“Were you showing Sebastian Daniel’s etchings?” She glanced around the room, her eyebrows raised. “Oh, he doesn’t have any etchings. So what could you have been up to?”

“Mind your own business.” She grabbed Bastian’s arm and tugged him past the others and out of the room.

“Tart,” Lissa murmured as she passed.

“It was an experiment,” she replied with a sniff. And it had worked. No
Thing.
Suddenly she wanted the lunch to be over. She had plans for the rest of the afternoon.

Plans that involved Bastian and nobody else.

…

As they pulled up at a red light, Bastian gave her a sideways glance. She was resting back in her seat, her eyes closed as she listened to the music.

They’d stayed another hour after the kiss. He’d made polite conversation with Lissa and Julia’s sisters, and he’d actually enjoyed it. He couldn’t remember the last time he had relaxed in company.

Well, almost relaxed. He’d kept a wary eye on Jason Jackson. The man watched Julia with an almost predatory hunger. Julia might say they were just friends, but Jackson wanted to be more. Luckily, there was no answering spark from Julia, though it was obvious she liked the other man.

He’d been planning to play the friends thing a while longer, but maybe he had better move the relationship along. Julia was a nice girl and once she’d slept with him, he reckoned she wouldn’t think of sleeping with anyone else.

Plus, even though she’d smiled for her friend, there had been pain in her eyes when she’d thought no one was looking. Pain he was sure he could make her forget. She wanted him. That had been clear from their kiss.

And Dante was nowhere around. Sebastian’s head—and the rest of him—was his own.

Nothing to stop him…

His cock hardened and his balls ached. Shifting his hand to her thigh, he slipped it beneath her skirt to the naked skin above her stockings. Silky soft and his cock jerked in his pants. He drifted his fingertips higher, teasing the lace aside and one finger slipped easily between the folds of her sex.

“Christ, you’re wet.”

“I’ve been like that since you kissed me,” she murmured, then gasped as he shifted his finger against the hot, wet heat of her. “You keep doing that, and I’m going to come right here.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Someone honked their horn, and he glanced up. The light had changed.

“Shit.” He pulled his hand free and back to the wheel where it belonged. “Hold on to that thought.”

Finally he pulled up in front of Julia’s house. Had she changed her mind? He seriously hoped not.

She glanced up at him, her eyes huge. “Will you come in?”

Fuck yes. He nodded.

At the door, she fumbled for her keys. “This doesn’t mean we can’t still be friends,”
s
he said, finally getting the key in the lock.

“Good.”

“I don’t want you to worry I’m going to get serious on you.”

“I won’t.”
Jesus, could they get inside?

“But I think this will do us both good. I think—”

“Julia, stop thinking. I need to get in that house and get inside you and if I don’t do the first, I might do the second anyway. Right here on your doorstep.”

“Oh.” She grinned. “You’d better come in then.”

The door slammed behind them, and she took his hand and pulled him up the staircase. Her bedroom was pink and white. Just like her. He didn’t care. All he wanted was to be inside her.

After dropping his hand, she crossed the room, closed the curtains, and flicked the switch on the bedside lamp, bathing them in warm light. Then she turned back to him.

Holding her gaze, he shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it on the chair by the bed. Her eyes never left him as he grabbed the hem of his sweater and pulled it over his head, dropping it on top of the jacket. She stepped toward him, reached out with her hand, and trailed her fingertips over his chest. Her nail scraped his nipple and the sensation shot to his groin.

Venturing lower, she circled his navel, dipping inside, sliding her fingers into the waistband of his jeans. He was already hard, almost painfully engorged, so he pressed against his zipper.

He had to slow down to keep some measure of control. He cleared his throat. “Your turn.”

As she pulled her hand free, she grazed his cock with her nails. He groaned. Stepping back, she reached behind her and lowered the zip on her dress. She tugged it down over her shoulders to pool at her waist. After a little wiggle, it dropped to the floor.

“Holy shit.”

She was better than anything he could have ever imagined. Small and curvy, pink and white. The lace bra pushed up her full breasts, and her nipples were hard points poking through the lace. Her stomach was flat, her waist tiny, flaring out to rounded hips. Her sex only covered by a tiny matching thong, lace so the blond curls peeked through. Sheer black stockings covered her legs and black high heels made them appear endlessly long.

“You are the most beautiful thing I have seen in”—he was going to say four hundred years, but prevented the words coming out at the last second—“forever.”

“More?” she asked.

“Much more, all of you…everything.”

Her fingers went to the clasp at the front of her bra, flicked it open, and peeled the lace from her breasts. Her skin was flushed, her nipples tight, and his breath caught in his throat. He cupped one full breast in his palm, his thumb rubbing across the stiff peak as her eyes drifted closed. He repeated the process with the other breast, then lowered his head and kissed the taut peaks, laved them with his tongue until they glistened with moisture. Sinking to his knees before her, he hooked his fingers in the sides of the thong and slowly lowered it over her thighs, down to her ankles. One by one, she picked up her feet so she could step out, and he tossed the scrap away.

The scent of her arousal filled his nostrils and a wave of heat crashed over him. He blew gently on the golden curls before pressing his face against her sex, breathing her in. He needed to taste her sweetness.

Backing up, he rose to his feet. The bed was behind her, and he placed his hands on her hips and walked her backward. When her thighs hit the side of the bed, she collapsed down.

“Lie back,” he whispered, and she did.

He knelt down again between her thighs, lifting them so they hooked over his shoulders and she was open to him, soft and pink and glistening. She wanted him and the proof made the fires raging through him burn hotter. For a few seconds, he stared and her hips rose off the bed as if begging for his touch.

“Please, Bastian.”

As he licked the soft outer lips of her sex, a low purr rumbled from her throat. Pushing between the folds, he sampled the sweet, muskiness of her need, the taste driving him wild. With one finger, he opened her further, stroking long licks of his tongue from her opening to her swollen clit. Her hips jerked, and he knew she was close. He wanted this to last for her because he had an idea the actual sex was going to be fast and hard and furious. Sweat beaded on his skin as he fought the need to plunge into her.

Instead, he pushed his tongue inside, caressing the inner walls, feeling the muscles contract around him, then up to the tight little bud again. He teased it with the tip of his tongue, flicked it with more pressure, and teased again as she hovered on the edge.

She was writhing on the bed now, and he tightened his grip to hold her in place.

“Please,” she murmured again, and he glanced up the line of her body. Her eyes were open but dazed, her breasts heaving as her breath came fast and short. His dick jerked again. Soon.

Lowering his head, he took her clit between his lips and sucked her in. Her spine arched and she came with a cry, pushing her hips against his mouth, grinding herself against him. He bit down gently, and she came again.

Finally, he gave one last small kiss and backed away. He rose to his feet, and she watched his every move. Her cheeks were flushed now, her lips slightly parted.

Bastian pulled a condom out of the back pocket of his jeans, kicked off his boots, unbuttoned his pants, and lowered his zipper. The relief was out of this world as his cock sprang free.

“Crap, that is huge,” she murmured, and he grinned.

She watched him as he dragged the jeans down over his legs and away, her gaze never faltering as he rolled the condom down over his throbbing shaft.

“Ready?” he asked.

She licked her lips, and his cock jerked again. Then she nodded. He expected her to lay back. Instead, she gave him one last look and rolled onto her front.

His breath caught in his throat as she pushed herself up onto all fours and raised her ass in the air. He stood staring as she opened her thighs and the glistening pink of her sex teased his already overloaded senses. Holy fuck it was Christmas and his birthday all at once.

If she wanted it this way, who was he to deny her?

…

Julia held herself very still as she felt the mattress depress when he came down behind her.

Thankfully,
Thing
was still absent, but all the same Julia hadn’t been able to resist this—she’d been fantasizing about it ever since the moment she’d first set eyes on him.

It occurred to her that perhaps it wasn’t the best idea for the first time—it had been a while for her and he was big…huge, not only long but thick as well. Her mouth watered.

As he nudged at the entrance to her body, one palm came down on her ass to hold her steady. This was it. She took a deep breath, and then he was pushing inside and the feeling was indescribable. Still sensitive from her orgasm, everything tingled. He moved slowly, stretching her, the sensation bordering on pain, and she moaned low in her throat.

He stopped moving. “Are you all right?”

She nodded. “Yes, keep going…it’s just been a while. But it feels so good, don’t you dare stop.”

“You want it all?” he murmured.

She didn’t answer, merely wriggled her hips, and pushed her ass a little farther into the air. He got the message. Both hands grabbed her hips, and with one fluid lunge, he sheathed himself deep inside her.

A small cry escaped her throat. She’d never been so filled, stretched.

“This is going to be hard and it’s going to be fast…just tell me if it’s too much.”

Her mouth dry, she swallowed, and then nodded again. Hard and fast sounded perfect. She held herself still as he pulled out, the drag of his shaft against her, sending exquisite tingles along her nerves. He paused when he was almost all the way out, and she bucked beneath him, already empty. As he pushed back, he slid in easier this time.

Then he was pumping into her and the world was reduced to nothing but the big, hard body moving inside her. A ripple of fear shivered through her; he was so big and the hands holding her so strong.

His grip tightened, his speed increased, and her fear vanished on a surge of sensation. Fires burned in her belly, throbbing between her thighs, spiraling out of control. She was so close, everything coiling tighter and tighter, until she wanted to scream “no more.” And she bit down on the pillow to block the scream, because if he stopped now, she might die. Then he reached one arm around her, slipped his hand between her legs, and massaged her clit. And she was falling. She came in an explosion of pleasure so intense she almost blacked out, only his arm around her waist holding her in place.